Green Card received on the 80th day

[clifbar 0]

Hello everyone,

I haven't participated for this forum but I must thank you all for the information I've gotten from this forum for my process and now I think I should share my story. I know many people won't agree with what my husband and I decided to do but what we did was legal and followed what USCIS have told us. I hope my story will help some people.

I came to the US to visit my boyfriend (now my husband) in March 28th 2006 with VWP and had my return ticket for June 23rd. I was stopped at POE in Seattle where I was questioned the reason of the stay and said I came here to visit my boyfriend. I had no idea why I was stopped and had taken into the backroom for questioning. The officer who was questioning me went through all my luggage and even called my boyfriend when he found a memo in my bag which had my boyfriend's name, address, and phone number but he had let me go after probably an hour later. At that time I had no idea about immigration law and I wasn't even thinking about marriage.

Days went by and on June 10th my boyfriend asked me to marry him and of course I said yes! Now, we've heard it was not something easy for me to live in US just by getting married and we didn't know what to do next. We've went through the USCIS web site but we weren’t sure what is the best way for us and not to do anything illegal. So we went for Infopass in the morning of June 16th and explained we are engaged and I am going back to Japan on June 23rd to stay legal and then asked what we should do if we want to get married and be together.

The lady at the window said I could continue to stay in the US if we are married and gave us forms and details for each form. She was very nice. She mentioned many times that to do this we have to be married. That same afternoon my future husband managed to get me into a clinic for a medical exam. In the next two days we went through all the forms the lady gave us and provided everything what they asked for. I am so glad that I've always had my birth certificate with me when I traveled and my future husband had his birth certificate and all his tax returns. Three days after the Infopass we got married and the fourth day (June 20th) from the Infopass we sent all the forms and support documents to Chicago. In addition, we've included a cover letter, a letter, and four photos of us explaining how we've got to this point and why we are sending all these documents in. We haven't slept much those days because we wanted USCIS to receive our documents before the schedule of my return flight (June 23rd). If they didn't receive them before 23rd I was going to go back to Japan to stay legal.

Fortunately everything went great. Please refer to the timeline below. On the first biometrics appointment day (July 18th) I just gave them both I-485 and I-765 appointment papers and they didn't ask me anything and took all the necessary finger prints for both. People were nice there, too.

On Aug 29th, we were interviewed with a lady immigration officer. She said she was from military and she seemed she could be very tough if she needs to be but she was really nice to us. She asked for the evidences of our relationship. We had two binders and one big photo album with us. She took our joint bank account statement, health insurance, life insurances, travel documents (one when my husband visited me in Japan and another one when we flew to east coast to meet his family), my husband pay stubs for last two months, a letter from my husband's employer explaining his salary, and asked some questions regarding the papers. She said she already knew how we've met and what our story was from the letter we've sent along with all forms. She asked me my parent's name and if I've visited US before. I told her I studied here and got my bachelor's degree in California and master's degree in Denver. She showed us a paper that had "No Record" written on it and explained us that my name check came back clear. Probably after 15 minutes she said she's approving us and denying my I-765 and I-131 because I will get my green card soon. She explained what we should do after 2 years to remove the condition since we were married for less than 2 years. She looked at the clock and she told me she has a few minutes to look at our photo album. I was waiting for her to ask for our photos! (We didn’t have wedding photos. We are now planning a wedding party in winter.) She looked all and asked some questions about the photos but didn't take any because she's already had four photos of us in the file. When my husband told her this process has been done much quicker than we thought it’d be she mentioned that they are trying to do it in 90days. We've asked about the passport stamp but she said it will be valid only for a year and I'll receive my 2 year green card in two weeks so do not to worry about it. On the 80th day (Sept 7th) from the day we’ve sent the forms to Chicago I've received my green card.

My husband and I must be very lucky. We think that people at immigration office could be very helpful and are nice but of course there are exceptions. Sadly I found many unfortunate stories on this forum and I feel very sorry for those people who had to go through bad times with USCIS. But I believe that without their advice we couldn't get all the right papers and support documents ready in four days.

Thank you all and if you have any question or want to know details please contact me. I wish you all the best and hope everyone can get through this process soon.

M

[Dr_LHA 3]

Congrats!

Good to hear that things can go extremely smoothly these days.

[Addie_Goodvibes 0]

kongurachure-shonzu

Good Job! Nice story, Watashi No Tsuma Nihongin desu!

We have our interview on the 27th. So far everything is going smoothly

We met 12 years ago in Japan, I was Teaching English In Miyazaki.

I wish you happy and Beautiful New life in USA

Good Luck!

Addie, Ako & Airilie

[Peggy 1]

Congrats

[meauxna 15]

That's a lovely story.

Why were you travelling with your birth certificate?

[lovelypepy 0]

I haven't participated for this forum but I must thank you all for the information I've gotten from this forum for my process and now I think I should share my story. I know many people won't agree with what my husband and I decided to do but what we did was legal and followed what USCIS have told us. I hope my story will help some people.

I came to the US to visit my boyfriend (now my husband) in March 28th 2006 with VWP and had my return ticket for June 23rd. I was stopped at POE in Seattle where I was questioned the reason of the stay and said I came here to visit my boyfriend. I had no idea why I was stopped and had taken into the backroom for questioning. The officer who was questioning me went through all my luggage and even called my boyfriend when he found a memo in my bag which had my boyfriend's name, address, and phone number but he had let me go after probably an hour later. At that time I had no idea about immigration law and I wasn't even thinking about marriage.

Days went by and on June 10th my boyfriend asked me to marry him and of course I said yes! Now, we've heard it was not something easy for me to live in US just by getting married and we didn't know what to do next. We've went through the USCIS web site but we weren’t sure what is the best way for us and not to do anything illegal. So we went for Infopass in the morning of June 16th and explained we are engaged and I am going back to Japan on June 23rd to stay legal and then asked what we should do if we want to get married and be together.

The lady at the window said I could continue to stay in the US if we are married and gave us forms and details for each form. She was very nice. She mentioned many times that to do this we have to be married. That same afternoon my future husband managed to get me into a clinic for a medical exam. In the next two days we went through all the forms the lady gave us and provided everything what they asked for. I am so glad that I've always had my birth certificate with me when I traveled and my future husband had his birth certificate and all his tax returns. Three days after the Infopass we got married and the fourth day (June 20th) from the Infopass we sent all the forms and support documents to Chicago. In addition, we've included a cover letter, a letter, and four photos of us explaining how we've got to this point and why we are sending all these documents in. We haven't slept much those days because we wanted USCIS to receive our documents before the schedule of my return flight (June 23rd). If they didn't receive them before 23rd I was going to go back to Japan to stay legal.

Fortunately everything went great. Please refer to the timeline below. On the first biometrics appointment day (July 18th) I just gave them both I-485 and I-765 appointment papers and they didn't ask me anything and took all the necessary finger prints for both. People were nice there, too.

On Aug 29th, we were interviewed with a lady immigration officer. She said she was from military and she seemed she could be very tough if she needs to be but she was really nice to us. She asked for the evidences of our relationship. We had two binders and one big photo album with us. She took our joint bank account statement, health insurance, life insurances, travel documents (one when my husband visited me in Japan and another one when we flew to east coast to meet his family), my husband pay stubs for last two months, a letter from my husband's employer explaining his salary, and asked some questions regarding the papers. She said she already knew how we've met and what our story was from the letter we've sent along with all forms. She asked me my parent's name and if I've visited US before. I told her I studied here and got my bachelor's degree in California and master's degree in Denver. She showed us a paper that had "No Record" written on it and explained us that my name check came back clear. Probably after 15 minutes she said she's approving us and denying my I-765 and I-131 because I will get my green card soon. She explained what we should do after 2 years to remove the condition since we were married for less than 2 years. She looked at the clock and she told me she has a few minutes to look at our photo album. I was waiting for her to ask for our photos! (We didn’t have wedding photos. We are now planning a wedding party in winter.) She looked all and asked some questions about the photos but didn't take any because she's already had four photos of us in the file. When my husband told her this process has been done much quicker than we thought it’d be she mentioned that they are trying to do it in 90days. We've asked about the passport stamp but she said it will be valid only for a year and I'll receive my 2 year green card in two weeks so do not to worry about it. On the 80th day (Sept 7th) from the day we’ve sent the forms to Chicago I've received my green card.

My husband and I must be very lucky. We think that people at immigration office could be very helpful and are nice but of course there are exceptions. Sadly I found many unfortunate stories on this forum and I feel very sorry for those people who had to go through bad times with USCIS. But I believe that without their advice we couldn't get all the right papers and support documents ready in four days.

Thank you all and if you have any question or want to know details please contact me. I wish you all the best and hope everyone can get through this process soon.

M

sorry, I was trying to give my opinion and I copied your message..I'm newby here, sorry about my mistake.

I haven't participated for this forum but I must thank you all for the information I've gotten from this forum for my process and now I think I should share my story. I know many people won't agree with what my husband and I decided to do but what we did was legal and followed what USCIS have told us. I hope my story will help some people.

I came to the US to visit my boyfriend (now my husband) in March 28th 2006 with VWP and had my return ticket for June 23rd. I was stopped at POE in Seattle where I was questioned the reason of the stay and said I came here to visit my boyfriend. I had no idea why I was stopped and had taken into the backroom for questioning. The officer who was questioning me went through all my luggage and even called my boyfriend when he found a memo in my bag which had my boyfriend's name, address, and phone number but he had let me go after probably an hour later. At that time I had no idea about immigration law and I wasn't even thinking about marriage.

Days went by and on June 10th my boyfriend asked me to marry him and of course I said yes! Now, we've heard it was not something easy for me to live in US just by getting married and we didn't know what to do next. We've went through the USCIS web site but we weren’t sure what is the best way for us and not to do anything illegal. So we went for Infopass in the morning of June 16th and explained we are engaged and I am going back to Japan on June 23rd to stay legal and then asked what we should do if we want to get married and be together.

The lady at the window said I could continue to stay in the US if we are married and gave us forms and details for each form. She was very nice. She mentioned many times that to do this we have to be married. That same afternoon my future husband managed to get me into a clinic for a medical exam. In the next two days we went through all the forms the lady gave us and provided everything what they asked for. I am so glad that I've always had my birth certificate with me when I traveled and my future husband had his birth certificate and all his tax returns. Three days after the Infopass we got married and the fourth day (June 20th) from the Infopass we sent all the forms and support documents to Chicago. In addition, we've included a cover letter, a letter, and four photos of us explaining how we've got to this point and why we are sending all these documents in. We haven't slept much those days because we wanted USCIS to receive our documents before the schedule of my return flight (June 23rd). If they didn't receive them before 23rd I was going to go back to Japan to stay legal.

Fortunately everything went great. Please refer to the timeline below. On the first biometrics appointment day (July 18th) I just gave them both I-485 and I-765 appointment papers and they didn't ask me anything and took all the necessary finger prints for both. People were nice there, too.

On Aug 29th, we were interviewed with a lady immigration officer. She said she was from military and she seemed she could be very tough if she needs to be but she was really nice to us. She asked for the evidences of our relationship. We had two binders and one big photo album with us. She took our joint bank account statement, health insurance, life insurances, travel documents (one when my husband visited me in Japan and another one when we flew to east coast to meet his family), my husband pay stubs for last two months, a letter from my husband's employer explaining his salary, and asked some questions regarding the papers. She said she already knew how we've met and what our story was from the letter we've sent along with all forms. She asked me my parent's name and if I've visited US before. I told her I studied here and got my bachelor's degree in California and master's degree in Denver. She showed us a paper that had "No Record" written on it and explained us that my name check came back clear. Probably after 15 minutes she said she's approving us and denying my I-765 and I-131 because I will get my green card soon. She explained what we should do after 2 years to remove the condition since we were married for less than 2 years. She looked at the clock and she told me she has a few minutes to look at our photo album. I was waiting for her to ask for our photos! (We didn’t have wedding photos. We are now planning a wedding party in winter.) She looked all and asked some questions about the photos but didn't take any because she's already had four photos of us in the file. When my husband told her this process has been done much quicker than we thought it’d be she mentioned that they are trying to do it in 90days. We've asked about the passport stamp but she said it will be valid only for a year and I'll receive my 2 year green card in two weeks so do not to worry about it. On the 80th day (Sept 7th) from the day we’ve sent the forms to Chicago I've received my green card.

My husband and I must be very lucky. We think that people at immigration office could be very helpful and are nice but of course there are exceptions. Sadly I found many unfortunate stories on this forum and I feel very sorry for those people who had to go through bad times with USCIS. But I believe that without their advice we couldn't get all the right papers and support documents ready in four days.

Thank you all and if you have any question or want to know details please contact me. I wish you all the best and hope everyone can get through this process soon.

M

sorry, I was trying to give my opinion and I copied your message..I'm newby here, sorry about my mistake.

ah!!! how am I suppose to post my answer here without taking your all message???? I just wanted to say congratulations because you got your green card. my case seem I'ts taking foreeever..I hope to get mine soon. bye bye.

Edited September 12, 2006 by lovelypepy

[tomica52 0]

Congrats!!

[allynella 0]

Congrats

[ChanelKitten 0]

Congratulations on your approval!!!

[Waiting in Vancouver 6]

ah!!! how am I suppose to post my answer here without taking your all message???? I just wanted to say congratulations because you got your green card. my case seem I'ts taking foreeever..I hope to get mine soon. bye bye.

Instead of clicking the "Reply" button at the bottom of each persons post you would just click on the "Add Reply" which is at the top or at the bottom of the pages ...

[isleta521 5]

Congrats!

[newoption 1]

Yes, you are very lucky. Congratulations !!!

[ChristinaM 0]

As a fellow VWP adjuster, congratulations!

[clifbar 0]

Thank you very much, dr_lha,Addie_Goodvibes,pink_roses,meauxna,lovelypepy,tomica52,allynella,ChanelKi

tten,Waiting in Vancouver,isleta521,newoption,ChristinaM!!!

I really hope that everything will go smoothly with you all.

My answer to meauxna's question "Why were you travelling with your birth certificate?" is that there were times I was asked to show my birth certificate (US, and Singapore where I've studied and worked before and of course Japan) and then at some point I just put the certificate and passport together so I didn't have to go through to order the certificate and wait to get it. It's such a pain...

Good luck, guys!!

M

[den_y2005 0]

congrats